Monday, December 21, 2009

Aamir Khan Biography

Aamir Khan, with his penchant for perfection and professionalism, is one of the few method actors in Bollywood, who has taken acting to a whole new level. Outwardly, his hairstyles from Dil Chahta Hai to Ghajini, are served as appetizers for cinephiles. An actor, director, producer, playback singer, a state tennis champion and mentor to his nephew – he’s all that and more.A Step Back In TimeAamir Khan celebrates his birthday on the 14th March. He was born on 1965 in Mumbai to Tahir and Zeenat Hussain. He has three siblings Faisal, Farhat and Nikhat. The film industry was part of his life growing up as many members of his family were part of it like his father, his late uncle Nasir Hussain and his cousin Mansoor Khan. It was Mansoor Khan’s Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak that brought him success.Aamir’s family roots can be traced back to Afghanistan. He is said to be a descendant of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad who was a scholar and political leader; Dr.Zakir Hussain, the former President of India. Dr.Najma Heptullah, who was a Chairperson in the Rajya Sabha is his second cousin.Even as his first hit Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak made him an overnight heartthrob across the country, he married his sweetheart Reena Dutta secretly as their parents opposed the marriage. She even made a blink and you will miss appearance in his song Papa Kehte Hai in Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak. They have two children Junaid and Ira. The couple filed for divorce in 2002. Soon after, in 2005 he married Kiran Rao, who was an assistant director on the sets of Lagaan.Aamir was honoured with the Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India in 2003. He turned down the offer to replicate him in wax by Madame Tussaud’s. He was also a tennis champion representing the state of Maharashtra.Trailblazing YearsNasir Hussian’s Yaadon Ki Baarat, one of the hits in 1973, had Aamir playing Ratan in his younger days.The EightiesHe made his debut in Ketan Mehta’s Holi in 1984. The film also had Ashutosh Gowariker as part of it’s cast, who was a friend of Aamir and later went on to direct the award winning Lagaan. But it was in 1988, with the release of Mansoor Khan’s Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak, loosely adapted from Romeo and Juliet, which brought Aamir into the limelight. The film was a big favourite among film-goers and Aamir won the Filmfare Best Debut Actor Award. He received several nominations for the Filmfare Best Actor Award until he finally nailed it in 1996. In 1989, he had two releases – Raakh was a non-commercial film and his performance as Aamir Hussein was recognized, the second film was Love, Love, Love another teen love story with Juhi Chawla.The NinetiesThe 1990 release Dil with Madhuri Dixit made a big splash on the film scene. In 1991, in the remake of It Happened One Night, Mahesh Bhatt’s Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, he played Raghu Jetley, an out of work journalist, who comes across Pooja Dharamchand, a spoilt brat played by Pooja Bhatt. The film was a big success. In 1992, he had another hit with Mansoor Khan’s Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikander. Aamir continued to work in one or two films a year, a majority of which became unforgettable hits. Mahesh Bhatt’s Hum Hai Rahi Pyaar Ki in 1993 paired him with Juhi Chawla, and did extremely well. In 1994, he shared screen space with another Big Khan of Bollywood, Salman Khan, in Andaz Apna Apna, which was lighthearted and fun. Ram Gopal Verma’s Rangeela in 1995, gave him a new look as Munna. It turned out to be a blockbuster. The same year he had another hit in Akele Hum Akele Tum with Manisha Koirala. Hi role as Rohit Kumar, a failed playback singer and single father, was well-received. In 1996, he won the Filmfare Best Actor Award for Raja Hindustani, a love story between a taxi driver and a heiress. The film won several awards. He acted in Ishq, a romantic comedy and a multi starrer, which enjoyed a good reception in 1997. Ghulam, in 1998, had Aamir singing Aati Kya Khandaala to Rani Mukherji. His two films – John Mathew Mathan’s Sarfarosh and Deepa Mehta’s Earth 1947 – were critical and commercial successes. He played IPS officer Ajay Singh Rathod intent on fighting terrorism in Sarfarosh; in Earth 1947, he played Dil, the ice-candy man, caught in a love triangle, set during the partition of India and Pakistan and the resulting bloodshed. 2000 OnAamir’s only release in 2000 was Mela with his brother Faisal Khan. The film did not do well at the box office.In 2001, he produced and starred as Bhuvan, a villager in British occupied India, in Ashutosh Gowariker’s Lagaan. He won the Filmfare Best Actor Award. The film was India’s entry to the Best Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards. However it lost to No Man’s Land. His other hit the same year was in complete contrast to Bhuvan. He played the suave and urban Akash Malhotra in Dil Chahta Hai, a fresh look at friendship between three men. After taking a break from films for nearly four years, he returned in 2005, with Mangal Pandey – The Rising. The film’s performance was average and got caught up in controversies about how accurately or inaccurately the Sepoy was shown on screen. In his two releases in 2006, Rang De Basanti, he played a laidback DJ who tries to take justice in his hands and in Fanaa with Kajol, he plays Rehan Khan, a terrorist. His performance in Rang De Basanti won him a Filmfare Critics Award for Best Performance. He made his debut as a director with Taare Zameen Par in 2007. He also produced and acted in this film about a dyslexic. It was a critical and commercial success in India and overseas. In the early part of 2008, he launched his nephew Imran Khan in Jaane Tu… Ya Jaane Na. Aamir produced the film along with his cousin Mansoor and it went on to be a major hit.ghajini and an idiotChristmas 2008 will see the release of the much talked about Ghajini, a remake of the Tamil film by the same name. The film is shot in Namibia and South Africa and Aamir plays Sanjay Singhania, who suffers from short term memory loss and his quest for revenge. His 2009 release is Three Idiots based on Chetan Bhagat’s popular novel Five Point Someone. It also stars Kareena Kapoor, Madhavan and Sharman Joshi.

Copenhagen: "the elephant is moving"

Dear friends,
It's been a tough ending to an amazing week. In all-night negotiations, leaders have reached a weak agreement in Copenhagen that fails to set the emissions targets needed to prevent catastrophic global warming. The agreement was stronger on funding, but it was not binding, and set no urgent deadline to sign a real climate treaty. Big polluters like China and the US wanted a weak deal, and potential champions like Europe, Brazil and South Africa didn't fight hard enough to stop them.
But while leaders failed to make history, people around the world did. In thousands of vigils, rallies and protests, hundreds of thousands of phone calls, and millions of petition signatures, an unprecedented movement rose to this moment. After hearing the result of the talks, one member from Africa wrote "It takes a lot to get an elephant moving, but when you do it is hard to stop...the elephant is moving..."
Despite the outcome, Copenhagen has built the movement that can win the fight to save our planet. Click below to say "thank-you" to all the other amazing people who participated, see pictures, video and reports on what we've done in the last week, and join a global, instant translation multilingual live chat where we can all exchange words of wisdom for the road ahead:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/after_copenhagen
In just the last week, we've organized thousands of vigils and events in 140 countries, an enormous multi-million person petition, and dozens of national phone calling campaigns that made thousands of phone calls. We've generated thousands of news articles, organized peaceful petition-reading sit-ins at key government buildings, and ran several high level stunts and events at the summit itself.
On Wednesday UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown requested an emergency conference call with Avaaz members, telling 3000 of us: "You have driven forward the idealism of the world...do not underestimate the impact on the leaders here". Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu personally appealed to us to take up the torch of causes past and never give up.
This weekend we saw that the fight to save our planet cannot be won at a single summit. But we also learned what we're capable of, when we all come together. If we stay together, nothing can stop us.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/after_copenhagen
With hope and gratitude,